Enriching Richmar

Luisa Rodriguez, property manager at Buena Vista Apartments in San Marcos, enters a newly refurbished unit. The new owner plans to tear down the complex in 2010 and replace it with a mixed-use, affordable-housing project called Westgate Village.
— Earnie Grafton / Earnie Grafton / Union-Tribune

Luisa Rodriguez, property manager at Buena Vista Apartments in San Marcos, enters a newly refurbished unit. The new owner plans to tear down the complex in 2010 and replace it with a mixed-use, affordable-housing project called Westgate Village.
— Earnie Grafton / Earnie Grafton / Union-Tribune

Construction has tapered off in San Marcos as a result of the recession, but several affordable-housing projects are taking shape in the Richmar neighborhood.

San Marcos is in the process of revitalizing one of the oldest parts of the city with the help of affordable-housing developers. Officials say the projects will beautify the area and reduce crime.

“This is the beginning of the end of the old neighborhood,” said Karl Schwarm, the city's director of housing and neighborhood services.

Plans call for tearing down some older market-rate rental units and replacing them with new apartments. Within the next few years, Schwarm said, people should see apartments built above ground-floor retail stores along Autumn Drive; a reconstruction of housing on Chinaberry Lane; road improvements; and new neighborhood parks.

Affordable-housing developers are required to have well-designed buildings that rival private projects in San Marcos, City Manager Paul Malone said.

Besides improving aesthetics, affordable-housing companies also manage their buildings, Schwarm said, screening tenants and keeping tabs on how many people are living in one apartment. Tenants also are required to open their units for annual city inspections.

As a result, Schwarm said, the buildings are better maintained, and tenants feel safer and tend to have more pride about where they are living.

“It's a holistic effort from the ground up,” Malone said.

Malone, who joined the city about 28 years ago as a planning technician, said the number of calls for law enforcement dropped by 40 percent in Richmar in the five years after the completion of Paseo Del Oro, an award-winning, mostly affordable-housing project with stores on Mission Road. It replaced a run-down strip mall where one tenant was selling illegal drugs.

Richmar, the city's second-oldest neighborhood, comprises about 700 acres in central San Marcos. It includes single-family homes, apartments, San Marcos Elementary School and retail stores such as Home Depot.

It was still mostly rural 20 years ago, said Ronie Martinez, a specialist with housing and neighborhood services. Martinez has worked for the city since 1989 and remembers single-family homes, a handful of market-rate apartment buildings, one Mexican restaurant and the elementary school in a quiet neighborhood.

Over time, Richmar has changed along with San Marcos, a sleepy town with fewer than 4,000 residents when it incorporated in 1963. The city grew rapidly in the past two decades and now has a population of about 83,000.

The first affordable-housing apartment building in San Marcos was built by the city in Richmar in 1994, over vocal opposition of many residents. Martinez said people were worried that it would attract the poor to the city. In reality, she said, such projects typically serve families already living in the city.

Malone is well-aware of the negative perceptions about affordable housing, and said that is why the city works only with developers that have a proven track record.

“To me, the proof is in the pudding and that's community acceptance,” he said. “You can't have a bad day.”

In 2009, a family of four must have an income of less than $66,100 a year to qualify for affordable housing, Schwarm said. The typical four-person family in Richmar earns about $50,000 a year, he said.

Today, there are 12 affordable-housing projects in Richmar, along with affordable-housing units that were included in new market-rate projects.

Six more affordable-housing developments are on the way.

The city wants to create a predominantly multifamily housing neighborhood that is safe, beautiful and renowned in the county, Malone said.

Land for the first project, Autumn Terrace, has been graded and it should open next spring. The dilapidated duplexes that were on the site on Autumn Drive have been demolished. Community Collective, the developer, is building 103 apartments above first-floor retail space. It also will extend Lowery Lane from San Marcos Boulevard to Autumn Drive.

Last month, the City Council approved a $7.2 million loan to the Affirmed Housing Group to renovate a 40-unit apartment complex at 225 Autumn Drive, just east of Autumn Terrace.

It could be renamed as Sage Pointe, Schwarm said, and if work starts on it this summer, the conversion could be completed this year.

Westlake Village, also along Autumn Drive, would be the next project. The council has approved a $9 million loan with funds mandated for affordable housing to National Community Renaissance, the developer that built Paseo Del Oro.

The plan calls for tearing down 89 market-rate apartments, now called Buena Vista, and replacing them with 110 units in three-story buildings. The ground floor along Autumn Drive will be for commercial use. The final design hasn't been approved by the council, Schwarm said, but demolition is planned in 2010.

The developer also would extend Westlake Drive, from Los Vallecitos Boulevard to Autumn Drive.

Two tenants at Buena Vista said the change will be good for the community but they are worried about relocation.

“We hadn't thought about moving anywhere in the future,” said Joe Cooks, who has lived at Buena Vista with his wife and son since 2001. “It's quiet. ... .”

George Castro, who lives in a unit with his wife and four children, said Buena Vista is home. Castro's parents and in-laws also live in the complex.

“It's sad,” Castro said. “We're pretty comfortable in these apartments. We have balconies and they're townhomes. I like the balconies. ... It just won't be the same no more but I'm happy they're going to clean up the area.”

Three other projects are still in the early stages.

National Community Renaissance is proposing to build an affordable-housing project for seniors on a lot behind the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post at Mission Road and Firebird Lane, near the San Marcos Senior Center.

Orange Housing Development Corp. and C&C Development Co. are studying the potential for a mixed-use project with affordable apartments above ground-floor stores on Mission Road. Several properties must be assembled for the plan to work.

A big change is being proposed by Orange Housing/C&C Development and Community Collective. They want to give Chinaberry Lane a fresh start.

The dead-end street off Autumn Drive now has a mix of apartments, single-family homes and farmworker housing. The small street is known for graffiti, gang fights and other crimes, including burglaries and stabbings. It is between Autumn Terrace and Westlake Village.

The developers are working to acquire all the properties on Chinaberry, Schwarm said, and will knock them down. They plan to build sidewalks on both sides of the street, three-story buildings with 84 units and commercial space along Autumn Drive by the end of 2011, he said. Interfaith Community Services owns the farmworker units and also would be involved with the reconstruction.

Storm drain improvements are being installed now by the city to prevent flooding on the street.

Building commercial stores along Autumn Drive will serve the neighborhood, Malone said.

Residents used to walk across the railroad tracks to get to stores, restaurants and businesses on Mission Road. But when the Sprinter commuter rail line opened, gates were put up for safety and restricted access. The city is building a $900,000 pedestrian rail crossing at Marcos Street and Mission Road.

The city also is planning three small parks in the area. Two are in the draft stages: a 4-acre park near San Marcos Elementary and a 2-acre park near the post office on Twin Oaks Valley Road.

A 1 1/2-acre inear park, called Buelow Park, along Autumn Drive, has been approved. The city is waiting to sign a long-term licensing agreement with the North County Transit District before construction can start, officials said.

“We want to bring services back into the neighborhood so residents don't have to cross the railroad for a loaf of bread, soda or go to the park,” Malone said.